Sympathy for the Devil
by Spunkt
Summary: *Epilogue up* ''Come on Sora. Kill me.'' ''No, Riku... I... I want to save you...'' Sora and friends from Hollow Bastion are out to find Riku. But how can you help someone if they do not want to be saved? Angst, death, and language. please r&r!!
1. Searching

Welcome to my newest obsession, Sympathy for the Devil! I want to warn you now, that this plot is very shaky, and might take a while to write correctly. It is also very tragic and full of angst. It's just generally a depressing yet bautiful story. It's not my usual style, so don't kill me if you don't like it. But thanks for reading it, you now officially rule!  
  
ahem.... it begins.  
  
(((/_ Sympathy for the Devil _\)))  
  
He walked the halls of Hollow Bastion in silence, his footsteps echoing in both directions. The rain hit the roof softly, and drizzled down the window panes without any sound at all. Sora yawned. He had been called into the Library at 3 in the morning for an emergency, and was slowly trudging his way down the hall.  
  
He finally arrived to the doors of the library, and opened them with little effort. He had taken no more than 2 steps into the room before he was met with several icy glares. Sora sweatdropped.  
  
"What?" he asked timidly.  
  
"We've been waiting."Leon said, his eyes fierce.  
  
"Yea what took you so long?" another voice asked. Sora lifted his gaze to see it belonged to Kairi.  
  
"I'm sorry..." Sora mumbled and went to go sit next to his best friend.  
  
"It's okay." Aerith said. She sat in between Cloud and Yuffie, who both looked half asleep.  
  
"Anyways, we've just recieved important news from Donald and Goofy." Leon said, holding up a piece of paper.  
  
"Donald and Goofy!?!?" Sora rose out of his chair. "Are they okay? They didn't get hurt, right? Where's Mickey?"  
  
"Calm down." said a groggy Cloud.   
  
"...." Sora sat back down.  
  
"Anyways..." continued Leon. "They have not located King Mickey yet..."  
  
Several groans emerged from the Library's occupants.  
  
"...but they found Riku."  
  
All eyes turned to Sora and Kairi, who both beamed brilliantly.  
  
"But I should warn you..." Leon got cut off by squeals.  
  
"Riku! We're gonna see him!" said Kairi in high-pitched voice.  
  
"When do we leave?" Sora asked.  
  
"JUST HOLD ON!" Leon yelled, completly loosing him temper after being interrupted at least twice already.  
  
The room fell silent again.  
  
Leon ran a hand through his dissheveled mane and continued. "Goofy and Donald don't have Riku with them!"  
  
Sora opened his mouth to say something, but was silenced by a deadly look from Leon.  
  
"He refused to stay with them. I'm afraid he's not the same Riku you two once knew." He paused to take a deep breath. "Riku has fallen deeper into the darkness... His heart is not whole and he cannot control himself all the time.... to put it simply... he's trying to carry on where Ansem left off."  
  
Yuffie woke up at the sound of Ansem's name and stared at Sora. Kairi too turned to face her friend with a 'now what?' look.  
  
"But... he was fine when the door closed...." Sora trailed off.  
  
"That was two whole years ago." Cloud piped in. "Look how much has happened in that amont of time. You found your way back here and started a search for Riku that has been going on for some while without any leads. The only thing we've learned is about the traveling capailities of the keyblade. You did recently find Kairi, though... But what I'm trying to say is that 2 years within the darkness of Kingdom Hearts isn't going to leave someone unaffected."  
  
"Do you think it's Ansem?" Yuffie asked warily.  
  
"No, Ansem is gone. The pure darkness has Riku." Leon said, putting the piece of paper down.  
  
"Well let's go help him!" Sora said.  
  
"It can't be that god-damned simple." Cid said from across the room.  
  
"Well, we're not going to find out unless we find him first, right?" Kairi asked, taking Sora's shaking hand into her own.  
  
"I guess... but we should check the books first." Leon said, motioning to Aerith.  
  
"I have a better idea." The woman said. "We need to find Riku as quickly as possible. Sora should go out and start looking while some of us stay behind to check the books."  
  
"That's a great idea Aerith!" Sora said enthusiastically. He smiled at Kairi, but she didn't smile back. "What?"  
  
"What if we can't help him?" she said quietly.  
  
"Don't worry, we will." he answered confidently.  
  
"Well, who the hell is gonna stay and who is gonna go?" Cid said loudly.  
  
"Whatever each person wants, I suppose." answered Sora.  
  
"I'm staying, of course." Aerith said smiling.  
  
"I want to go." Cloud stood up. "If that's okay with you, Sora."  
  
"Course it is." the young brunette said happily.  
  
"I'm going too." Leon said, but did not care if Sora said yes or no.  
  
"Staying. Too old." Cid mumbled and lit a cigarette.  
  
"I wanna go!" Yuffie said, full of energy.  
  
"I dunno..." Leon started to say.  
  
"Oh come ON Squall! I'm a great fighter! I'll be useless here!" she whined.  
  
"Don't call me that!" Leon recieved sad puppy eyes. "Fine."  
  
"Yay!" Yuffie squealed in excitement.  
  
"What about you Kairi?" Sora turned to his friend.  
  
"I really want to go... but I'm a terrible fighter, you know that. I'd better stay." Kairi stared at the floor.  
  
"It's okay Kairi, we'll keep in touch! And as soon as this is over, we'll be back... with Riku." Sora smiled and squeezed her hand.  
  
"M'kay." She answered.  
  
"Well that settles it. Sora, Cloud, Yuffie, and I are going. Aerith, Cid, and Kairi are staying. Now everyone go get some rest. We'll leave for Traverse Town tomorrow morning." Leon picked up his gunblade and headed towards his bedroom.  
  
The group broke up, and each person went to their respective rooms. Sora found himself back under the warm blankets in just his boxers, ready to fall asleep. Hollow Bastion wasn't such a bad place to live in the end. They had all fixed it up pretty nicely since there were no more Heartless in the castle.   
  
His bedroom door opened slightly and a figure tip-toed towards him. Sora found this odd, but was even more surprised when the figure crawled into his bed and under the covers.  
  
"Just hold me." Kairi whispered. "We're going to be seperated again. So just hold me."  
  
Sora complied and slid his arms around the smaller girl, pulling her against his body. She cooed softly at the warmth he gave off and held on even tighter.   
  
They fell asleep for only a few hours, as the sun rose higher into the sky, they were forced to open their eyes. They woke up in the exact same posistion they fell asleep in.  
  
"It's time to wake up." Sora said softly.  
  
"I don't want to let go again." she said those words with so much pain... it sounded like roses wilting.  
  
"I'm going to be back. I promise."   
  
"... You always did keep your promises." she loosened her grip.   
  
Sora took the opportunity to reluctantly eaze himself out of bed and get dressed. He didn't mind it in front of Kairi; the two were best friends, so it didn't matter in their minds.  
  
"You're gonna hafta take my good luck charm again." Kairi said as she exited the room to go get dressed. "See you at breakfast."  
  
***  
  
Everyone ate in silence. The food wasn't even that good, considering everyone had stayed up late and was too tired to do a good job cooking. But once the dishes were cleared, a lively discussion started.  
  
"We need more elixers." Leon said in a huff.  
  
"There aren't any. You'll need to buy some." Aerith answered.  
  
"No more ethers either then?!?" the man was getting angry.  
  
"This is all we have! You will need to buy some supplies!" Aerith too was loosing her temper.  
  
"It's a waste of time, plus I don't have a lot of munny!" Leon was almost shouting.  
  
"I have plenty." Yuffie said.  
  
"Yea, cause you stole it." Cloud said as he placed his armor onto the table to inspect it.  
  
"So?" Yuffie asked. "They weren't using it!"  
  
"Couldn't have been useful and stolen some elixers, huh?" the brunette said, his eyes glowing.  
  
"Stop it all of you! Shut yer ass-holes and get along!" Cid yelled from the other side of the table. "You're gonna have a rough time." he said to Sora.  
  
Sora just groaned. He was the only one who was ready to leave. Kairi had run to her room, and was now coming back with something clutched in her hands.  
  
"Here." she presented Sora with her good luck charm. "Bring it back to me." She smiled, her long hair falling around her body and she leaned to give it to him.  
  
"No problem." he smiled back and placed it safely in his pocket.  
  
After all the bickering had stopped, everyone lined up to say goodbyes. Even Cid gave Sora a friendly handshake and a few 'words of wisdom'... even though they were mostly something along the lines of "don't screw up."  
  
Leon, Yuffie, and Cloud surrounded Sora, who closed his eyes and used his keyblade to send a sort of mist around the small group.  
  
"Traverse Town." he said firmly, and the mist began to glow.  
  
He opened his eyes and saw Kairi waving at him before they dissapeared.  
  
*****************  
  
End of chapter 1! alright, this was an introduction chapter, just to get the ball rolling. More to come, I promise! I'll post faster if i get reviews, so please take like 5 seconds and review if you enjoyed it. \  
  
oh and i want to make it clear that this is NOT a kairixsora fic. just so you know. they're just close friends, m'k? there will probably be less than a few lines of any romance whatsoever, this is a tragedy people!... even if it doesnt seem like it right now. so just sit tight and please read the rest, i'm working on it!  
  
-sokairu 


	2. New Hopes

yay, 3 whole reviews!!! hahha, hey, its a start! besides, i know the first chapter was relatively boring, but there will be some better stuff this chapter, k? and just wait till later ::is evil::  
  
alright, this chapter is going to be similar to the first because it's more of an introduction than anything, but there will be more plot i promise!  
  
Warnings: tragedy, death (maybe ^^), language.  
  
(((/_ Sympathy for the Devil _\)))  
  
"That will be 1,900 munny please." a young boy said.  
  
Leon grumbled and placed the coins in the child's outstretched hand. The supplies were expensive, but Leon knew they were vital to the group's survival.  
  
"So he hasn't been here since the door closed?" Sora asked an older girl who was sweeping the item shop.  
  
"Once, but it was a very long time ago. He was actually very polite. He stayed here for a few days, and then he was gone." the girl continued sweeping, never looking into Sora's eyes.  
  
"And you're sure it was Riku?" the brunette pressed on.  
  
"Quite sure. Silver hair, turquoise eyes... those eyes..." she paused briefly, but then continued her work. "Never seen anything like him before. Especially since Traverse Town is so industrialized now, it's hard to meet people like him."  
  
"Was he alone?" Sora's eyes were now wide with excitement.  
  
"Uhm... if I remember correctly, he had a companion. Hard to see their face though." she put down the broom and walked over to the counter.  
  
"Who?!?"  
  
"I don't know. He was very quiet. But as soon as they arrrived to this world, the heartless showed up again." she gave the boy behind the counter a rag and sent him to clean the display cabinets.  
  
"The heartless are here!?!?" Leon shouted from across the room.  
  
"Yea, outside the first disctrict. No one goes there anymore." the girl looked down at the floor. "No one has been able to finish them off. But that's all I know, sorry."  
  
"Well, thank you for your help." Sora turned to leave.  
  
"Can we GO now?" Yuffie whined from the door.  
  
"Don't be a pain." Leon said as he pushed out past her, followed by Sora.  
  
"Well?" Cloud asked from outside.  
  
"Riku was here with a friend. They brought some heartless with them." Leon said, handing out supplies.  
  
"Well, are we going to take care of them?" Cloud asked.  
  
"No. We need to find the source." Leon answered.  
  
"Maybe it's the guy who was with Riku." Sora said, accepting some high potions from Leon.  
  
"Or maybe it's Riku himself." Yuffie chimed in from the ground where she was fidgeting with some throwing stars.  
  
Sora shot her a deadly look.  
  
"It *is* possible Sora." Cloud said in Yuffie's defense.  
  
"Whatever. We don't know where Riku was even heading. We need to split into teams and look for more information." Leon said, looking at Sora.  
  
"I'm with Squall!" Yuffie said from the floor.  
  
"Uh, great! Come on Sora!" Cloud headed in the other direction with Sora in tow.  
  
"Hey, wait a minute!!!!!" Leon screamed from the front of the store.  
  
"See ya at the old hotel by nightfall!" Cloud called before he and Sora disappeared.  
  
"Great..." Leon looked down on the younger ninja. "I'm getting too old for this."  
  
*********  
  
Nothing. No information whatsoever on where Riku was heading. Sora trudged silently behind Cloud on their way to the old hotel.  
  
"We're entering the second district now. Be on your guard, there are probably heartless around." Cloud called to the younger boy.  
  
"Oh... right." Sora took out his keyblade as they went through the large doors.  
  
The sight that met them was miserable. All the buildings in the district looked like they were about to crumble to the floor. There were a few scattered heartless, but nothing to worry about. Sora and Cloud made their way into the hotel quickly, and did not attract too much attention. They walked into the red room and both of their hearts skipped a beat.  
  
Yuffie was lying on the bed unconscious, and Leon was standing in the corner. His eyes were half closed, but snapped open when Cloud and Sora entered the room.  
  
"What happened?" Cloud asked as he walked over to where Yuffie lay perfectly still.  
  
"Heartless. There must have been over 100 of them." Leon muttered and stepped out of the shadows to go sit in a chair.  
  
Sora noticed that Leon's jacket was off and his left arm was bandaged up, spots of blood seeping through in some places.  
  
"Why don't you guys use some potions or something?" Sora asked, his gaze meeting Leon's.  
  
"Yuffie had already, she needs to rest. I'll use one tomorrow if it's not better. We need to conserve supplies, they're just too damned expensive." Leon closed his eyes.  
  
"But aren't the heartless dropping munny and potions like they always do?" Cloud asked as he sat down at the edge of the bed. Yuffie stirred, but did not wake.  
  
"Hardly." Leon shifted his position in the chair. "But we did get some information on Riku."  
  
"Where's he heading?" Sora asked as he sat down on the floor.  
  
"I'll get to that." Leon re-opened his eyes. "A traveler we met says that he's seen Riku at a few worlds... most of the ones he named are the ones you visited, Sora. Anyways, apparently wherever Riku and his companion are sighted, the heartless are found soon after. So it is getting increasingly more important to find him. But the good news is that the heartless can no longer travel. The world they are placed on is where they stay. They're dropping a couple hundred off at each world they visit. The two men don't hurt anyone. They visit the world, are very nice, but then disappear a few days later, leaving behind little presents. But they follow a weird pattern of travel... no one seems to know where they're going next... they just show up." Leon stopped and took a few deep breaths, exausted from the minor action of talking. He leaned back in the chair and once again closed his eyes.  
  
"So no information on where he's heading?" Sora sked hopefully.  
  
"None." the older brunette muttered.  
  
"You need to sleep Leon." Cloud said, rising off the bed. "Sora and I will take turns on guard, okay?"  
  
"....Thanks." Leon rose from the chair and went into the green room to sleep.  
  
"You sleep a bit too okay?" Cloud said to Sora.   
  
Sora just nodded and curled up on the bed next to Yuffie.  
  
********  
  
"Sora, wake up!!!" Cloud shook the younger boy softly, not wanting to wake Yuffie.  
  
"Nnnnnn..." Sora groaned.  
  
"Sora, you gotta read this!" Cloud thrust a piece of paper into Sora's hands.  
  
Sora sat up and rubbed some sleep out of his eyes. He stared at the piece of paper in his hands:  
  
--------Riku is heading for a world called Destiny Islands. Go quickly.---------  
  
Sora's eyes went wide and he looked up at Cloud.  
  
"Who gave this to you?" Sora whispered.  
  
"Gave what?" Yuffie asked sleepily. Her eyes were half open and her tone was quiet and mellow.  
  
"This." Sora handed the piece of paper to Yuffie, who read it and shot up.   
  
"Oh wow..." she said.  
  
"Some man in a hooded coat gave it to me. Should we wake Leon?" Cloud asked his eyes darting to the door that connected the rooms.  
  
"Well, I don't know. Are we gonna go?" Sora asked.  
  
"Of course! This is a great lead!" Cloud got off the bed and walked into Leon's room.  
  
Yuffie jumped out of bed to grab her bag of supplies.  
  
"Careful Yuffie. You got hurt pretty badly." Sora warned her, also getting off the bed. He looked out the window... it was still the dead of night.  
  
"I'm fine. The potions help lots." she rose and gave him a reassuring thumbs up.  
  
Just then, Leon burst through the door, followed by Cloud.  
  
"Leon, we have to take this lead!" the blonde said frantically.  
  
"It's not reliable." The older man mumbled. his eyes were a bit red from lack of sleep.  
  
"We don't have anything to loose!" Cloud said, gathering his things from the table.  
  
"....." Leon looked deep in thought. "...Fine."  
  
"Alright!" Yuffie said, back to her usual self. "Let's go!"  
  
Sora nodded and summoned the keyblade to transport them to Destiny Islands.  
  
******  
  
The warm air played with his hair as it moved inland from the sea. The smells filled his nostrils and made him almost giddy with delight. He even took off his shoes to feel the sand beneath his feet. He could not remove his blindfold, but he knew he was on Destiny Islands.  
  
Riku was home.  
  
***********************  
  
am i mean to end the chapter here? hope not, but the next one will come soon, just review and make me happy till then, k? 


	3. Painful Discoveries

chapter 3, woot! thanks for the reviews, they make me happy.  
  
okay this chapter is going to be really tricky at times, so read very carefully, make sure you know who is saying what. i know i sound dumb, but you'll understand once you start the chapter.  
  
(((/_ Sympathy for the Devil _\)))  
  
Kairi stirred under her covers, unable to sleep. She hopped out of bed and walked towards the kitchen to grab a midnight snack. The hallways were so dark that she could barely see where she was walking.   
  
Keeping her hands in front of her, she fumbled back to her room with a full belly. Slipping back under the covers, she glanced at the wall her bed was facing. Two large shadows stood there, staring at her.  
  
*My mind is just playing tricks on me.*  
  
She turned over onto her side to avoid having to look at the shadows. Unfortunately for her, one of them moved and crouched down right in front of her.  
  
He wasn't a shadow at all. Wearing a black trench coat with the hood up over his head, a brunette stared at Kairi, his eyes glowing a faint yellow. Kairi recognized him immediately.  
  
"Sora?!? What are you doing back!?" she asked.  
  
The man did not answer, but simply stared at her. The other figure moved from the wall and stood directly behind 'Sora'.   
  
Kairi's eyes went wide as she realized that she was staring at a replica of herself.  
  
***  
  
Cid shot up in bed hearing a piercing scream from across the hall. He jumped out of his bed and ran into Kairi's room.  
  
"What the fuck is going on!?!??!" he yelled.  
  
Two figures in matching trenchcoats spun around to face him.  
  
"Oh shit..." he paused, and then ran at full speed towards the strangers, fists in the air.  
  
Cid swung at one of them, but the figure dodged the attack easily.  
  
"Please stop. We're here to help Riku." the hooded man said. His voice sounded just like Sora's, except colder.  
  
Cid stopped and stared at the man.  
  
"Prove it." he muttered.  
  
"What is going ON here?!" Aerith said as she entered the room.  
  
"We are here to help you." the figure who looked like Kairi took off her hood and revealed herself.  
  
The man also took off his hood.  
  
Aerith just stared at Kairi and then at Cid.  
  
((((((A/N: 'Kairi' with the marks like that means nonexistant Kairi. 'Sora' with the marks is nonexistant Sora. just dont want you to get confused ^^)))))  
  
"Alright. Start talking." Cid said, motioning for Kairi to come stand behind him. She obeyed.  
  
"I am a nonexistant form of Kairi; a shell that was formed when she lost her heart." 'Kairi' said.  
  
"And the same goes for me. When Sora stabbed himself with the darkblade, I was created. All people that loose their heart have a shell created for them in case they need a place to store their heart when they loose it." said 'Sora'. "A world inbetween darkness and light is formed by us, the nonexistant ones. It took a lot of effort to make it here, but we felt it was very important to help you."  
  
"Why do you want to help us?" Aerith asked timidly.  
  
"The nonexistant Riku has unreal powers. The real Riku helped him out of our world. The two are traveling through the worlds, leaving heartless behind. But Riku might be in trouble." 'Sora' explained calmly. "In order for the nonexistant Riku to become whole, he must kill the real Riku."  
  
"How can that be? I thought you just said the nonexistant ones were merely shells." Cid said.   
  
"Riku didn't completely loose his heart. Ansem kept some of it in order to use the boy for his own doings. Riku recieved it when Ansem died. The nonexistant Riku was not complete, and he still isn't. He even looks a little different from the real Riku. He has a human side to him, and it can only be completed by killing Riku and taking the rest of his heart." nonexistant Kairi explained.  
  
"How can we help him?" Kairi said, speaking for the first time.  
  
"The nonexistant Riku must be returned to our world. And we are the only ones who can bring him back." 'Kairi' answered.  
  
"Well, why don't you friggin go get him?" Cid stared into 'Sora's' yellow eyes.  
  
"We can't. Getting here alone took a lot of time and effort. We can't chase down nonexistant Riku, traveling is something our kind is not good at." the brunette answered coldly.  
  
"You need to contact Sora as soon as possible and tell him to bring the nonexistant Riku here so we can take him back. Otherwise the Riku you know could die." 'Kairi' looked at the real Kairi, showing yellow eyes and a hollow expression.  
  
"How come he didn't kill Riku already?" Cid asked.  
  
"We have not figured that out. He might not even know of his powers yet. But it would be wise to return him to our world just in case." 'Kairi' continued.   
  
"Well Cid? What are you waiting for? Call Sora!" Aerith exclaimed.  
  
"Alright, alright. Keep your shirt on, woman." Cid took out the communicator and attempted to get in touch with Sora and the rest of the group. "Hello? HELLO!?..... No answer."  
  
"Try again in a few minutes." Aerith said. "Can I offer you anything to eat?" she asked the two cloaked figures.  
  
"No thanks." 'Sora' said with a chuckle. "We don't need to eat."  
  
"I see..." Aerith said, her eyes narrowing slightly.  
  
"Why are your eyes yellow?" Kairi asked her counterpart.  
  
"Well, technically we are heartless." the girl's shell answered. "But we have free will."  
  
"Got 'em!" Cid exclaimed. "Yea Sora? You won't fucking believe this!"  
  
***********  
  
"For real?!? Okay Cid, we'll find him as soon as possible!" Sora said into the speaker.  
  
"Good. And watch yer backs, okay?" Cid was on speakerphone, and had just finished telling everyone what was going on.  
  
"Alright Cid, take care!" Yuffie said in the direction of the speaker.  
  
"Oh and Cid? Tell Kairi I say hi." Sora blushed slightly.  
  
"Yea yea. Now go!" Cid turned off the communicator with an audible click.  
  
"Alright. Sora, you know your way around here the best. So let's start looking." Leon said, standing up and brushing sand off his pants.  
  
"Okay... but let's stick together this time." Sora said.  
  
"Good idea." Cloud mumbled, looking at Yuffie who just smiled.  
  
The group first set off to check the entire main island.   
  
"Creepy. No one is here. The place was always crawling with children from the islands..." Sora looked around at the empty docks. "Let's keep moving."  
  
The group made their way into the Seaside Shack and up onto Paopu Island. Sora looked out on the ocean and admired the view.  
  
***flashback***  
  
"So, suppose you get to another world." Kairi grinned. "What would you do there?"  
  
"Well, I haven't really thought about it. It's just..." Riku paused. "I've always wondered why we're here on this island. If there are any other worlds out there, why did we end up on this one? And suppose there are other worlds... Then ours is just a little piece of something much greater. So we could have just as easily ended up somewhere else, right?"  
  
"I don't know." Sora lay on his back and stared at the sky.  
  
"That's why we need to go out there and find out. Just sitting here won't change a thing. It's the same old stuff." Riku turned and smiled. "So let's go."  
  
***end flashback***  
  
Sora stared at the same sky he used to only dream about visiting.  
  
*Well you got what you wanted Riku... but now we need to save you. Don't worry, it will all be better soon.*  
  
"Sora? Hel-lo!" Yuffie tapped Sora on the head.  
  
"Huh? Oh, sorry." Sora looked at the rest of the group, who were all staring at him funny.  
  
"Well, he's not on this island. Now what?" Leon asked irritated.  
  
"We should visit his home on the other island. He might be there." Sora said.   
  
"Yea? How are we gonna get there?" Cloud pointed out.  
  
"Good point... oh, follow me!" Sora sped off to the the other side of the island followed closely by the other three group members.  
  
Sora hoped that the raft he had helped to build all those years ago was still here. Sure enough it was, but it was covered in vegetation. Sora ripped as much as he could off of the raft.  
  
"Come on!" Help me push it into the water!" he called to his friends.  
  
The four pushed the heavy raft into the water and Sora jumped on.  
  
"Come on!" he motioned to Yuffie.  
  
"Are you sure it's safe?" Leon asked, watching Yuffie happily climb on board.  
  
"Of course it is! I built it!" Sora said as Cloud too jumped on.  
  
"....I don't like this." Leon mumbled as he joined the group.  
  
"Don't worry. Now everyone grab a paddle!" Sora said excitedly as they set sail towards Riku's home.  
  
*****  
  
"I never want to do that again." Leon said as he disembarked. The poor man had gotten very seasick on the dinky raft.  
  
"Awww Squally." Yuffie said, patting his back.  
  
"Dont. call. me. that." Leon said, holding his stomach.  
  
Sora tied the raft onto the post of the dock and led the group up to the houses.  
  
"This way." he said.  
  
The island seemed desserted, not one thing seemed to move.  
  
"At least we can talk to Riku's mom if he's not there. She'll tell us what's going on." Sora said.  
  
The group finally reached the front door. Sora knocked loudly. The door creaked open.  
  
"Oh, its already open... hello? Anyone home?" Sora took a few steps into the house followed by Yuffie, Cloud and finally Leon.  
  
"Shh. Listen." Cloud said.  
  
The group fell silent. Sora closed his eyes... he could swear that he heard someone crying.  
  
"It's coming from that direction." Cloud pointed to the kitchen.  
  
The group tiptoed slowly into the kitchen, but nothing could prepare them for the scene that awaited them.  
  
Riku sat in the center of the floor, covered in blood. He sobbed quietly, clutching his mother's dead body to his chest.  
  
****************************  
  
yea ending it here. cliffhanger kinda, bum bum bum! this story is getting better, yay! please please review! i really need some support! i know it sounds dumb, and i know youve heard/seen it everywhere, but the more reviews i get, the more compelled I am to post faster. so please review the story, i will love you for it.  
  
ps sorry about the confusing things with nonexistant sora and kairi. it was hard to say who was talking without it looking confusing, im real sorry. 


	4. Disheartened

hey guys! i am SO sorry i had to keep you all waiting over the weekend... my family unexpectedley went to hang at the beach for the fourth of july thing, so i had no computer ::cries:: oh by the way, happy belated fourth!  
  
i did recieve a lot of reviews though (YAY), and so i am barely two seconds in the door and typing up a new chapter for you guys. its gonna be evil ::grins::  
  
Quick Quasi-serious Note from the Author:  
  
Okay, this is the first fiction that i have written that has no bias towards any characters. That means I am putting aside my deep hatred for some and trying to ignore my deep love for others. i don't want anyone to get upset with this story if their favorite character (dare i say) dies or their least favorite character does something cool. trust me, its not easy for me to write nice things about certain characters and bad things about my fav bishies (^_^). but i need certain characters to do my bidding so that his fic can make sense. i hope you all can deal with character deaths and glorifications.  
  
this story is called Sympathy for the Devil... you will meet the devil soon enough and i promise that once this fiction is over, you will understand 1) why it is called this and 2) why i had to do certain things to certain characters.   
  
with that said, on with chapter four!  
  
(((/_ Sympathy for the Devil _\)))  
  
~ The group tiptoed slowly into the kitchen, but nothing could prepare them for the scene that awaited them.  
  
Riku sat in the center of the floor, covered in blood. He sobbed quietly, clutching his mother's dead body to his chest. ~  
  
The sight was utterly terrible. Sora shuddered and the hairs on the back of his neck stood on end. The nonexistant Riku must have killed Riku's mother! Sora couldn't figure out why he would do that, but it wasn't a good time to sit and think these things through.  
  
"Oh Riku..." Sora said quietly as he took slow steps towards the sobbing man.  
  
Riku's head lifted and his cries ceased. He wore a black blindfold over his eyes, but it was wet from tears. The matching black trenchcoat had blood on its front.  
  
"How could he do this..." Sora continued his advance on Riku. Why was he wearing a blindfold? Had the nonexistant man blinded Riku?   
  
Riku simply kept his head in the direction of Sora, knowing exactly where the sound was coming from.  
  
"Come on Riku, you're safe with us..." Sora was a mere three feet in front of the older boy.  
  
Riku suddenly dropped his mother to the floor and jumped away from Sora.  
  
"Stay back!" he said, raising his hands in front of him.  
  
"Riku.... it's me, Sora. Come on Riku, what happened?" Sora stopped walking and stared at his best friend.  
  
"She died." He said, an unreadable expression coming to his face.  
  
"Did your nonexistant form do it? We'll help you Riku..." Sora was cut off.  
  
"I DON'T NEED YOUR HELP!" Riku yelled at the top of his lungs. "DON'T TRY TO STOP ME!"  
  
The rest of the group stared at eachother utterly confused and looking for answers.  
  
"STOP TRYING TO SAVE ME! YOU CAN'T HELP! YOU CA-" Riku suddenly stopped yelling. He took a deep breath and continued to talk in a very calm voice. "You didn't save me that day. What would make you want to save me now, huh Sora?" Riku smirked.  
  
"Riku, I wanted to I just...." Sora felt his eyes water, but he fought down the tears. How could Riku say something like this? Did he not know how much it had hurt Sora to watch Riku disappear behind those doors? Did he not appreciate all that was being done to save him?  
  
"What Sora? You didn't save me and now look what happened. Mother's gone." Riku's eerie smile widened.  
  
"It's not my fault..." Sora began.  
  
"Oh so then it's not your fault the door closed, leaving me trapped inside! And it's not your fault I've been wandering for over two years! And it's not your fault that you couldn't find me until now!" Riku's eyes weren't showing, but Sora knew that they were burning with hatred... just for him.  
  
"Riku, why are you saying these things?!? We're here to help you!" Cloud said from the doorway of the kitchen.  
  
Riku completely ignored him.  
  
"It al happened because of you." Riku said.  
  
"It was all fate Riku! I didn't get to decide what happened!" Sora yelled.  
  
"Well fate is in trouble," Riku's smile disapeared and was replaced with that unreadable expression again. "because it will soon meet the devil." Riku's head tilted in the direction of the window. "Terrible things are going to happen."  
  
"Riku, we want to put your nonexistant form back into it's world! We want to prevent this stuff from happening!" Sora said, his voice full of hope, trying to coax Riku into the idea. "You don't need to die, no one needs to die! We can go back and visit Kairi! Just tell us where your nonexistant form is and we'll put him back where he came from!"  
  
"Go ahead and try." Riku's expression was now blank. "But you'll have to excuse me, he's waiting. And I think it's rude to keep people waiting."  
  
Riku turned to leave through the kitchen door.  
  
"No Riku, please don't go! You don't need to listen to him! He's using you!" Sora pleaded.  
  
Riku stopped and turned to face Sora again.  
  
"Using *me*?" he said, putting an emphasis on the last word before leaving the house.  
  
Sora stood there for only a few moments in complete shock. Riku didn't give a shit about what he had to say... he didn't want Sora to help him... it was all too hard to swallow. What if Sora had just pulled Riku from Kingdom Hearts when he had the chance? Something in his mind had told him that it wasn't that simple... but back then he hadn't even questioned it. Sora felt like he hadn't even *tried*...  
  
"We have to follow him!" Leon yelled, waking Sora from his second-long stupor.  
  
"But he doesn't want us to!" Sora said, but followed Leon and the rest of the group out the door anyways.  
  
"We NEED to find his nonexistant form, no matter what he says! We need to stop the heartless from spreading!" Leon said as they headed towards the beach.  
  
Sora just remained quiet until they reached the docks.  
  
"Our raft!" Sora exclaimed, noticing the vessel was gone. He looked out on the open sea and saw Riku and another figure paddling the boat towards the main island.  
  
"Just wonderful..." Leon said.  
  
"Come on! There has to be another boat somewhere!" Sora took off in a sprint towards other tiny docks on the beach.  
  
"Wait up!" Yuffie yelled, following the 16 year old without much difficulty.   
  
The two reached some rowboats at a nearby dock and jumped in one of them.  
  
"We'll take another one, go ahead!" Cloud yelled as he and Leon made their way towards the dock. The two were lagging behind, so Sora and Yuffie took their advice and paddled towards the main island.  
  
"Too....old..." Leon said in between breaths.  
  
Cloud just nodded, lugging his heavy armor with him.  
  
The two soon arrived at the dock and jumped in a paddleboat to follow their friends.  
  
*  
  
"Oh no..." Sora said as he and Yuffie approached the island.  
  
The island was crawling with heartless. There must have been hundreds... Sora's head spun just trying to estimate their numbers.  
  
"Alright! A challenge!" Yuffie squealed and rowed harder.  
  
Sora rowed harder to keep up with her, and they both lept out of the boats as soon as they reached the docks.  
  
"Let the slaughtering begin!" Yuffie yelled as she launched an attack on any heartless that was within a 50 foot radius of her.  
  
Sora also sliced into as many heartless as possible, and the two cleared a nice area of the island before Leon and Cloud arrived to help.  
  
It wasn't long before the heartless were retreating to the other side of the island. The group was tired, but very satisfied with their work. They couldn't enjoy their victory for long, though.  
  
"There he is!" Cloud said pointing to the secret cave. Riku smirked and then crawled inside, he had obviously been watching them battle.  
  
The team ran to the cave, and squeezed in one by one... though it was rather difficult for Cloud and Leon to get in. But, once inside, they stayed close together as Sora led the way. The cave opened up and the four came face to face with Riku and his nonexistant form.  
  
"...That's the guy who gave me the note earlier!" Cloud whispered.   
  
"Do it." Riku commanded.   
  
Sora and company braced for an attack, but recieved none. The nonexistant Riku turned and opened the strange door that was in the cave.   
  
"See you real soon." Riku said and went through the door.  
  
The nonexistant Riku turned to them, but said nothing. He too went through the door.  
  
Sora ran forward, but he was too late, the door had closed.  
  
"Damnit!" he yelled as he pounded the door with his fists.  
  
"Calm down Sora." Yuffie said in a consoling manner. "We'll find them again."  
  
"Yea, but it will take another two years!" Sora snorted.  
  
"No it won't. Look." Leon pointed to the sand behind one of the rocks.  
  
Everyone peered over the rock and saw a message written in the sand:  
  
-Neverland. Please follow.-  
  
"But which one of them wrote it?..." Sora said softly, as if thinking out loud.  
  
"I doubt it was Riku. We were right on his tail when he climbed in here." Leon said.  
  
That was a good point. Riku had been watching them fight, how could he have time to write that message?   
  
"Yea, but why would the nonexistant one want us to follow him?" Yuffie asked.  
  
Another good point. Why in the world would this nonexistant Riku want followers? If he was trying to destroy the real Riku, wouldn't he want Sora and everyone else to stay away?  
  
"Well, he gave me the first note." Cloud pointed out.  
  
Could this be some sort of sick game to this nonexistant man? A game of cat and mouse that would result in Riku's death?  
  
"Maybe he wants us to follow him, maybe he wants to kill Riku in front of us..." Sora said, even though it was not very likely. Any explanation was better than nothing.  
  
"Well it's possible I suppose." Yuffie said, a finger on her chin.  
  
"And what if Riku somehow wrote the note? Like maybe he wasn't watching the whole battle or whatever." Leon said.  
  
"Then Riku is in real trouble and actually wants help." Sora said, his spirits lifting slightly.  
  
What if Riku was being controlled? He needed help and Sora knew he had to be there...  
  
"But that seems less likely since the nonexistant one would have noticed Riku writing it." Cloud added.  
  
Damnit. That was true.   
  
"But Riku said 'see you real soon'! He might have known!" Sora said.  
  
"Well, whatever, we should go to Neverland then and find out." Leon said.  
  
"Alright, let's go!" Sora raised his keyblade...  
  
*****  
  
He looked around the old cabin of a ship, that held just him and one other. Something made a soft thud, and he knew right away that Sora had arrived on the ship, he could feel it.  
  
"It was you!"  
  
"No please, it wasn't me! I didn't do anything! I was following your directions!"  
  
"Liar! You told them to come to Neverland! You tipped them off!"  
  
"No I didn't!"  
  
"LIAR!"  
  
"No please, I'm on your side!"  
  
"Following us to Destiny Islands was planned."  
  
"Stop you're hurting me!"  
  
"But I didn't want them following us here!"  
  
"OW STOP PLEASE!"  
  
"Shut up! You are no longer necessary for me to be dragging along. You're time is up!"  
  
*****  
  
Sora was followed closely by Leon, Yuffie, and Cloud. Hook's ship was just as confusing as ever, and they were having problems reaching the top. The unmarked doors delayed them even more. They finally made their way up and into the cabin of the ship.  
  
A figure in a trenchcoat lay on the ground face down, a black blindfold on the floor next to him. Blood seeped all over the floor.  
  
Sora's eyes went wide in horror.  
  
"Oh god, we're too late...."  
  
*****  
  
what? i know i'm ending two chapters in a row with blood. i'm evil, so?  
  
As Jade Phoenix puts it, bow to the power of the cliffhanger!  
  
i am really sorry to be so evil, i just can't help it.   
  
but i bet you want more, ne?  
  
review! XD 


	5. Trudging Blindly

Me: what? only two reviews from the last chapter? awww ::cries::   
  
Riku: idiot -.-  
  
Me: well, i did post on that one day that fanfic was messed up. or was that just me who couldn't get onto it?  
  
Riku: just you.  
  
Me: oh well. that's in the past, now on to this next chapter. if you didn't read chapter 4, you must otherwise you're going to be lost and it will spoil it for you. even tho i'm sure you read it... you know... if you're on chapter 5.... yea okay enough talking, more storytelling.  
  
^___________^  
  
Warning: death in this chapter. deeeeeeeeaaaaaaaaath! beware!  
  
(((/_ Sympathy for the Devil _\)))  
  
~ A figure in a trenchcoat lay on the ground face down, a black blindfold on the floor next to him. Blood seeped all over the floor.  
  
Sora's eyes went wide in horror.  
  
"Oh god, we're too late...." ~  
  
Sora's legs felt like jello and refused to move. He just stared at the body on the floor, his hands trembling. Yuffie stood close behind him, and Cloud behind her. Leon stayed in the doorway and leaned against the frame, his head bowed down.  
  
Sora swallowed hard and forced himself to walk towards the body. He crouched down by his side and turned him onto his back.  
  
Pale hair covered his eyes and blood dripped from the corner of his mouth. His eyes opened slowly and he smiled. His breathing was heavy and forced.  
  
"You're not Riku..." Sora stammered.  
  
"...Indeed...." the man said. "I'm nonexistant Riku." he coughed up blood, but didn't stop smiling.  
  
"...Bu...but you... you were after Riku..." Sora looked closer into the yellow eyes.  
  
Leon, Yuffie, and Cloud were now standing at the most three feet away, listening.  
  
"...No..." another deep breath caused the nonexistant man's chest to rise and fall very slowly. "...I simply wanted to be...friends. We were like brothers... but he used me..."  
  
Sora looked up to his friends for support, but they were still in shock.  
  
"Riku's heart is black. He is no longer kind, but cruel. By killing me, he now has his entire heart, and can..." he coughed again. "...can cause great destruction. Now that he is completed, he can see and does not need me anymore. But he payed a price... for with my death, his heart has no place to go should he loose it." nonexistant Riku closed his eyes in pain and grabbed his wound.  
  
"Careful... Yuffie get him a potion!" Sora said as he tried to make the man as comforatble as possible.  
  
"No... it has to be this way." 'Riku' said. "You must stop Riku, he has become a monster. Please."  
  
Sora nodded his head and put his hand on the man's shoulder.  
  
"You know..." the nonexistant man half-opened his eyes. "I wonder... where I will go... now that I am dying." His speech became more spaced and unattatced. "Do you think... to paradise?..." He closed his eyes and his head sunk down. The hand that was clutching his wound became relaxed.  
  
"Yea." Sora said. "True paradise."  
  
Sora got up and looked at his friends. Yuffie was crying silently against Cloud, who was doing his best to comfort her. Leon looked up and met eyes with Sora.  
  
"I feel sorry for him. He was an innocent." Leon said.  
  
Yuffie whimpered.   
  
"Oh c'mon Yuf. You've seen people die before." Cloud said.  
  
"But... not... like... that..." Yuffie said between sniffs.  
  
Cloud sighed and rubbed her back.  
  
"So Riku was in control the whole time. The nonexistant one wanted us to follow." Leon said.  
  
"And... Riku killed him. He must have killed his mother too..." Sora broke off and looked like he had just said something unholy. "His own mother!" Sora yelled and stormed out of the room onto the deck.  
  
The breeze brushed through his hair and he leaned again a banister for support.  
  
"Riku this is too terrible..." Sora said out loud.  
  
"You know," Leon said, following Sora outside. "Riku isn't in control. The darkness has him. We're going to find him and bring him back, okay?"  
  
"What if we can't? He won't let us near him!" Sora said, tears running down his face. He didn't turn around because he didn't want Leon to know he was crying.  
  
"Of course we can, don't talk like that. Why are you giving up?" Leon said, as if challenging Sora.  
  
"I am not!"  
  
"Then don't doubt yourself."  
  
"I'm not! it's just... hard to deal with." Sora turned, unable to hide his tears any longer.  
  
"I.... I'm sorry." Leon looked at the younger boy, his eyes no longer cold and his expression no longer stiff. "But we'll stick with you. If you're going to save the worlds again, I want to see it."  
  
"Thanks." Sora smiled and couldn't resist but wrap his arms around Leon's torso.  
  
Leon rolled his eyes, but couldn't hide the small smile that creeped onto his lips.  
  
***  
  
"Well, if we help Riku return back to normal, he'll stop spreading the heartless." Cloud said. He and Yuffie had joined the other two men outside.  
  
"Right. And that would be that, I suppose." Sora said.  
  
"But how are we going to find him now? I mean, we aren't getting any leads anymore..." Leon said.  
  
"We should go to Monstro." Sora replied.  
  
"What makes you think he'll be there? It's not even a world..." Yuffie said, her eyes still puffy.  
  
"He hung around there before... we met up there. Seems like a place he would go, I dunno..." Sora trailed off and stared at the ground.  
  
"Well, it's better than nothing." Leon said. "Worst case scenario, he's not there."  
  
"True." Cloud jumped onto the railings and walked across it with the ease of a cat. "But if he's not there, we should leave immediately; the world he is on instead could already be in trouble."  
  
"So it's like a stupid chase! There has to be an easier way to do this..." Yuffie exclaimed.  
  
"I don't see one. So until someone figures it out, we will have to travel blindly." Leon said.   
  
Cloud jumped off the banister. "We should tell the others what happened."  
  
"Good idea." Sora took out the communicator.  
  
***  
  
"He did WHAT?!?" Cid yelled.   
  
"Cid, please." Aeris said, although she too was in shock.  
  
"We need to try and find him since the nonexistant Riku can no longer help us out. Anything you guys could do would be really helpful." Sora's voice rang through the room.  
  
"Okay Sora, we'll try." Kairi said.  
  
"But don't depend on us too heavily. The library doesn't exactly help to track anyone down..." Aeris said.  
  
"Alright Aeris. Just keep in touch, okay?" Sora sounded worried.  
  
"Alright." Aeris replied.  
  
"Bye Sora!" Kairi said with as much bounce in her voice as possible. Even though she was extremely upset, she didn't want Sora to know it.  
  
"Later kid." Cid said.  
  
"Take care!." Aeris said.  
  
"Bye!" came four voices from the other end before the communicator was turned off.  
  
The other three people sat in silence for a few minutes. The two nonexistant forms were also in the room, standing in the back corner.  
  
"We're sorry..." the nonexistant Sora said. "We gave you the wrong information."  
  
"No, it's really okay. You were just trying to help." Aeris said sweetly.  
  
"We'll stay and help you look in the library if you want." 'Kairi' smiled.  
  
"That would be great." Aeris answered and smiled as well. "Right Kairi?"  
  
"What? Oh... uhm... yea." Kairi said.  
  
"Alright, then let's get to it." Cid said. Everyone got up and started to leave the room... except Kairi.  
  
*I'm sure they won't mind if I just hang back here for a little bit...* she thought.  
  
Kairi finally did leave the room and went into her own bedroom. The only light in the room was the small bits that broke through the curtains and spilled onto the floor. The entire feel of her bedroom was gloomy and depressing. She grabbed a sweater and opened up the curtains. The room lit up as the light poured into every corner. Everything was now visible, even the dust particles drifting in the air.  
  
Kairi prefered her room when it was light. The darkness was just too depressing and dreary for her taste. She thought for a moment and then walked out into the hall. She stopped at Sora's door, her hand on the doorknob. She slowly turned the handle and stepped inside.  
  
The room was dark and cold. Kairi made her way over to the curtains and drew them back as she had done in her own room. The sunlight made the room feel warmer. She smiled and left the room, closing the door behind her.   
  
Next stop was the room next door. This room had been prepared for Riku. Kairi remembered that she and Aeris had spent half a day fixing it up and making it look nice. She walked into the room and went to open the curtains... but she stopped. This room seemed better in the dark, but she didn't know why. Kairi took her hands off the curtains and backed up slowly to the door. She turned and left the room, closing the door behind her.  
  
She missed Riku so much. And now, knowing what he was doing made it hurt even more. Kairi suddenly wanted to be out with Sora, trying to save Riku. She felt useless here, and could not believe she wasn't out there helping. She just wanted to get out...  
  
***  
  
"Hey Kairi, what took you so long?" Aeris said as Kairi entered the library.  
  
"Just wanted to get a sweater, I felt cold." Kairi answered and made her way to the closest bookshelf.  
  
*********************  
  
Sorry about the shorter chapter... they're probably going to be ahorter from now on because... i feel like it. So please please PLEASE review and make me happy. Then I will start the new chapter, yay!  
  
oh and by the way, were you surprised at all the the nonexistant Riku had been killed instead of the real Riku? or did i hint at it too much? tell me! XD 


	6. Enter the Devil

mmmm chapter 6 goodness ^_^  
  
okay so i havent gotten as many reviews as i wanted, but thats okay. i'm getting tired with this story anyways... lol im such a bad authoress, i always get sick of my stories. blaaahhh.  
  
did you guys get any of my symbolism from last chapter? about riku's room being better in the dark? symbolism? FORESHADOWING? ::goes into a fit of evil giggles::  
  
okay i see maybe 1 or 2 more chapters after this one, im gonna draw it to a close soon enough. but will it be a happy ending? read to find out mwahahaha!  
  
::cough::  
  
er...  
  
(((/_ Sympathy for the Devil _\)))  
  
"I don't see how the insides of a whale could be a desirable place to hide." Leon muttered as the group walked through the many chambers of Monstro.  
  
"Yuck." Yuffie narrowly avoided some goo dripping off the ceiling.   
  
Sora didn't answer, he was too busy thinking. 'Chamber 4 or chamber 5? Gahhh, I don't remember.' he thought to himself.  
  
"Uhm, Sora? I think we were here already..." Cloud said.  
  
Sora stopped and looked around. Indeed, they had been in this chamber already.  
  
"...I'm sorry..." Sora said softly.  
  
No one answered him. They had been walking around for at least 45 minutes, and Riku was no where to be found. Besides that, everyone was pretty sure that they were lost.  
  
"He's not here." Leon said.  
  
"We haven't looked everywhere yet!" Sora exclaimed. "There's a specific chamber that we need to check!"  
  
"It's laaaaaaaate..." Yuffie whined.  
  
"This place is a deathtrap! We could be digested!" Leon practically shouted.  
  
"Quiet Yuf." Cloud said.  
  
"We just need to find the right chamber!" Sora also raised the volume of his voice.  
  
"I'm tiiiiiiiired..." Yuffie continued to nag.  
  
"Please Yuffie..." Cloud tried in vain to make her stop.  
  
"That could take forever!" Leon's hands turned into fists.  
  
"He's here I know it! Just trust me!" Sora yelled.  
  
"I'm huuuuuungry!" the ninja refused to be silenced.  
  
"We KNOW Yuffie!" Cloud was begining to loose his temper.  
  
"Useless." Leon muttered.  
  
"I heard that!" Yuffie shrieked.  
  
Sora looked at the mess of people who stood arguing before him. Everyone was just too tired... Sora knew that they could not afford to get into any serious disagreements.  
  
"OKAY WE'LL TAKE A BREAK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" Sora yelled as loud as he possibly could.  
  
Everyone stopped talking and stared at Sora.   
  
"We're all tired, so let's just take turns sleeping for a bit, okay!?!?" Sora stared right back.  
  
"Okay."  
  
"Okay."  
  
"Whatever."  
  
***  
  
Sora had decided to go first standing watch while everyone else slept. Yuffie had complained about sleeping on the floor, but fell asleep as soon as her head hit the pillow...er... backpack. Leon and Cloud slept back to back because they had nothing to keep their heads off the floor.   
  
Sora wandered around the chamber... which was significantly large. He wanted to try out some of the doors to see where each one led, but he didn't want to stray from the group... if they found out, Leon would have killed him... or worse, lectured him.   
  
He sighed. At every little sound, he would turn his head, expecting to see Riku right there and back to normal. He knew he was loosing it. He shrugged it off and blamed it on being bored. There weren't even any heartless around to bash. This lack of entertainment forced Sora to think... something he was trying to avoid.  
  
He couldn't get the image of nonexistant Riku out of his mind... he couldn't forget the way he had died right in front of him. He couldn't understand why Riku had done it. All that time, he had been driven by the desire to save Riku from the monster. Riku had said that the devil was coming... but Sora had no idea that at the time, Riku had meant himself.   
  
~Flashback~  
  
"No Riku, please don't go! You don't need to listen to him! He's using you!" Sora pleaded.  
  
Riku stopped and turned to face Sora again.  
  
"Using *me*?" he said, putting an emphasis on the last word before leaving the house.  
  
~End Flashback~  
  
Sora shook his head... why hadn't he seen it coming? Riku was in control all the time.... Riku was being manipulative. *Riku* had been traveling from world to world, spreading heartless and causing chaos and destruction. The poor nonexistant form... he knew that Sora was his only chance. He was just trying to help. But Sora hadn't been there on time. Riku killed him. The memories came back again, rushing through Sora's mind. Nonexistant Riku had led them to follow, he was being overpowered and he couldn't help it...  
  
'Why Riku?' Sora asked silently.  
  
Now Riku was the monster. Instead of having to save Riku from someone else, they had to save him from himself. Stop him from trying to destroy the worlds. Turn him back to normal. Sora sighed and leaned against a wall.  
  
How do you help someone who does not want to be saved?  
  
Riku refused to let anyone near him... what was Sora supposed to do? *Talk* to him? Yea that failed miserably. Sora yawned and realized him mind was giving out on him. He walked over to Yuffie and woke her up.  
  
"Nnnnph..." Yuffie groaned.  
  
"Your turn to stand watch." Sora said softly.  
  
"Mk." she yawned. "Youkinyoosemai...(yawn) backpack."  
  
"Thanks." Sora smiled slightly and took Yuffie's spot on the floor.   
  
Sora winced. Yuffie had been right, the floor was disgusting.  
  
***  
  
"EVERYONE WAKE UP!!!!!" Yuffie's shrill screams echoed in the chamber.  
  
Sora's eyes snapped open and he fumbled around to get up. Cloud and Leon also got their feet.  
  
Heartless were pouring in through one of the doorways. The three men leaped to assist Yuffie. Sora and Leon took care of the ones on the ground, while Yuffie and Cloud got the ones in the air. They continued to come in... it seemed that for every one they killed, three more took it's place.  
  
"This is starting to bother me." Leon said as he hacked through a haertless.  
  
"We need to get into the chamber that they're coming from! Riku is probably in there!" Sora said above all the commotion.  
  
"How can we get past them?" Cloud asked, chasing down a particularly fast one.  
  
"Fire." Sora answered. "Stand clear! C'mon Leon, me and you... 1....2....3... fire!"   
  
Two balls of fire shot right into the doorway, disintigrating and heartless in the way. The flow stopped briefly.  
  
"Let's go!" Leon yelled and they all ran through the doorway.  
  
The new chamber was full of heartless, and they were all coming from one direction...  
  
"Riku!" Sora yelled.  
  
Riku was standing on some raised ground at the end of the chamber. His hand was out, glowing with a black essence around it. Heartless were materializing in front of him. He looked up at the sound of his name, and stopped 'creating' heartless.  
  
Meanwhile, Leon, Cloud, and Yuffie were wasting no time; they ruthlessly tore through the large group of heartless. Sora was running a path directly towards Riku, slashing heartless left and right.  
  
Riku watched and smirked. His heartless were getting destroyed, but he didn't care. His attention was on the young brunette coming straight for him.  
  
Sora jumped up to where Riku was standing. To his surprise, Riku didn't back away... he just stood there and smirked. Sora noticed Riku's new attire... tight black clothes under the now unzipped trenchcoat.   
  
"Riku... why?" Sora said.  
  
"Why? Why I killled my nonexistant form I'm assuming.." Riku answered smugly.  
  
Sora just nodded.  
  
"He had a piece of my heart and I wanted it back. Now I am whole. I can travel alone, I can see again, and I can be my own person. Aren't you happy for me?" Riku kept the smirk on his face.  
  
"No. Look what you've become... a monster!" the brunette said.  
  
"I prefer a devil. Fits me better. But the heartless call me 'the source'. I'm happy now, Sora. So you can just leave me alone." Riku turned his back on Sora.  
  
"No Riku! I want to help you! Make you how you used to be!"  
  
"You can't. My heart is whole you idiot, I just told you that." Riku turned his head slightly. "My heart is black, consumed by the darkness. You can't just change that. The only way to turn it back would to be release it from my body. But that means I would die. You don't want to kill me, do you Sora?" Riku turned around to face Sora once more.   
  
"You mean... you did it... on purpose?" Sora stammered.  
  
"Of course I did, it was all planned. I killed my nonexistant form, so now there is no way for my heart to go back to normal. Being in the darkness of Kingdom Hearts for so long... how could I last? A small light in that place? Please. I had no choice. And you know what? I'm glad I can spread the heartless. I want to destroy all the people who never knew of my sacrifice!" Riku summoned the oblivion and charged at Sora.  
  
"How did you get that!?" Sora yelped and blocked the attack just in time.  
  
"A sort of present from my nonexistant form, the poor fool." Riku swung again.  
  
Sora barely blocked it this time.   
  
"No one knows what I gave up to save the worlds! No one appreciated it!" Riku screamed as he brutally attacked Sora.  
  
"Riku.."  
  
"Not even YOU!"   
  
Sora paused in shock, and got sliced on his left arm. He growled in anger and threw himself into the battle. The two men struggled for a while, and eventually Sora gained the upper hand.  
  
"You're wrong Riku." Sora said as he knocked Riku's keyblade out of his hands. "We've been looking for you for years." Sora pinned Riku against a wall.  
  
"You were too late."  
  
"Damnit, Riku! Can't you see what's being done for you?!?!" Sora yelled.  
  
"Oh no, now you're angry. What are you gonna do? Kill me?" Riku smirked. "C'mon, kill me Sora."  
  
Sora lightly loosed his grip and his expression became confused.  
  
"That's what I thought." Riku brought his knee in contact with Sora's stomach.  
  
Sora fell to the ground, the wind knocked out of him.  
  
Riku reclaimed his keyblade and walked over to his fallen enemy. He gave Sora another kick in the back.  
  
"Your weakness is your sympathetic nature, Sora. Feel lucky I don't kill you." Riku tore open a portal of darkness. He snickered.   
  
"Sympathy for the devil, how bitterly ironic." Riku walked through the portal and dissappeared.  
  
Sora coughed and slowly got up. His everything hurt, and his vision was a little blurred. Nonetheless, he swallowed hard and forced himself to help the group finish off the remaining heartless.  
  
***  
  
"Stop moving!" Cloud said as he dressed Sora's wound.  
  
"Sorry."  
  
"The 'source'? What does that mean?" Leon asked.  
  
"I don't know." Sora replied softly.  
  
"Done." Cloud said.  
  
Sora got up and brushed himself off.  
  
"Thanks Cloud." he said.  
  
"We should go back to Hollow Bastion." Yuffie said.  
  
"Why?" Leon asked.  
  
"We're all bushed and injured, one day of rest would be great." she explained.  
  
"Plus we could try find out more about this 'source' thing." Cloud added.  
  
Sora just nodded and stared ahead.   
  
"Alright, let's go." Leon said.   
  
Sora handed him the comunicator, and Leon called up Cid.  
  
"Yea, Cid? We're coming back."  
  
************************  
  
gonna end it there cuz (whines like yuffie) im tiiiiiiiiiiired. this is an in-between chapter. next chappie will be more exciting, i promise.  
  
and yes, sora was totally traumatized by riku being so evil. thats why at the end he was all quiet.  
  
okay.  
  
review! XD 


	7. Nightmare

thanks for the reviews!!  
  
i have decided that this is the second to last chapter, so beware!!   
  
sorry that i haven't been updating fast, i've been sick for a few weeks and it sucks. when i want to stop dying, i'll be better with my updating, i promise.  
  
(((/_ Sympathy for the Devil _\)))  
  
"I want you to be prepared for the news Kairi... it does not sound good." Aeris said as she stirred her tea.  
  
"I already know that Riku did something terrible... I handled that okay, right?" Kairi asked before sipping her hot cocoa.  
  
"Yes Kairi, but you know there is going to be more to the story than just that... I mean they weren't supposed to come back until they had retrieved Riku." the older woman said sympathetically.  
  
"I'm ready for it." Kairi answered confidently.  
  
"They're back!" Cid called from another room.  
  
Kairi jumped out of her chair and went running towards the sound of Cid's voice. Aeris calmly got up and walked out of the kitchen.  
  
"Sora!!!" Kairi squealed and glomped the said brunette, sending them both tumbling to the floor.  
  
"Hi Kairi." Sora said flatly.  
  
Kairi looked into the blue orbs and could have sworn she saw right through them. The sparkle was gone, and was replaced with a void of emptyness.  
  
"Sora, what's wrong?" she asked, getting up.  
  
"We all need to talk." Leon said after shaking hands with Cid.  
  
Sora just sighed and got off the floor. He tried his best to smile, but he knew it looked fake. Kairi stuck her hand out expectingly.  
  
"Oh, right." Sora said searching his pockets. His expression dropped even more (if that was possible) and his hands moved more frantically as he checked the same pockets over and over.  
  
'Oh crap, I lost it...' Sora thought as he turned his head upwards to meet eyes with Kairi.  
  
"I'm so sorry... I don't know how I lost it..." Sora absent-mindedly continued to search his pockets as his eyes swelled up.  
  
"I want to meet the nonexistant ones." Cloud said to Aeris.  
  
"It has to be here... I didn't move it once..." Sora continued.   
  
"They've been searching the library with us." Cid said.  
  
"Sora, it's okay..." Kairi said as she stepped closer to Sora.  
  
"Oh, are they scary?' Yuffie asked.  
  
"No Kairi... it's not.... I'll find it..." Sora held back tears and his voice became shaky.  
  
"No, they're actually very nice." Aeris answered.  
  
"Sora, it's really okay... I can make another one..." Kairi continued to approach Sora.  
  
"How long are they planning on staying for?" Leon asked.  
  
"Kairi, no.... I can....I can....find...." a tear rolled down Sora's cheek and he hastily wiped it away.  
  
"I don't know. You can ask them, but don't sound rude." Aeris said.  
  
"Sora..." Kairi was right in front of Sora and took one of his hands to make him stop looking.  
  
"I'm never rude!" Leon snorted.  
  
"I....can...I can... find...." Sora looked at Kairi and fell to his knees, head in hands. "I.. I'm sorry.." he sobbed.  
  
Aeris, Leon, Yuffie, Cloud, and Cid all stopped their conversation and looked at Sora collapsed on the floor. Kairi got down on the floor and tried to comfort him.  
  
"Sora, it's just a stupid toy, don't cry..." Kairi too, looked like she was about to cry.  
  
"It's not just that! I let you down! I let Riku down, I let everyone down!" Sora said between sobs.  
  
"....I'll go make tea." Aeris said and left the room.  
  
"When you guys are ready, we'll be in the kitchen..." Cloud said as the rest of the group filed out, leaving the two alone.  
  
"No you didn't, Sora. You're doing a wonderful job, I'm so proud of you." Kairi rubbed his back.  
  
"I didn't do anything... Riku is still out there destroying the worlds and I'm powerless to stop him!" Sora sobbed violently.  
  
"You're trying Sora! It's not your fault! How do you think *I* feel? Sitting here, useless? You should be proud of what you're trying to do!" Kairi wiped away the stray tears that managed to crawl down her cheeks.  
  
"But it's not enough.. it's not enough..." Sora chanted.  
  
"What are you talking about? You're going to bring Riku back!" Kairi said.  
  
"Kairi... you don't understand..." Sora looked up at her. "I *can't* help Riku..."  
  
Kairi just stared at him with a funny expression on her face.  
  
"Listen..." he wiped his face with his hands. "I need to explain it to everyone, so let's go."  
  
She nodded and they rose off the floor and walked towards the kitchen.  
  
(a/n: sorry about the two conversations at once earlier, i thought it gave a nice effect.)  
  
***  
  
Once everyone was situated at the table with tea, they quieted down and turned their attention to Sora. Even the two nonexistant forms had wandered in, but Sora had not seen them enter. The brunette cleared his throat and tried to explain the present problem.  
  
"Riku's heart is now completed since he killed his nonexistant form. But what this means is if he does loose his heart, there will be no place for it to go, and he will die. Riku's heart is black with an evil so great that he now has the power to create heartless. The heartless call him the 'source', but he prefers to be called... a devil. He is not in control anymore, the darkness has him in a tight hold. The only way that we can turn him back to normal would be to free his heart from his body so it can cast off the darkness. But since his nonexistant form is gone... doing this would kill him." he took a deep breath and looked up.  
  
Everyone's gaze was calm, but surprised. Kairi avoided Sora's eyes and decided to stare at the floor.  
  
"The source.." said a cold voice from across the room.  
  
Sora turned his gaze towards a man in a black cloak with the hood down. At first, his heart skipped a beat seeing that the man looked just like him... but his fears subsided realizing that it must be his nonexistant form.  
  
"He is the source of all heartless." the nonexistant Sora said, his yellow eyes glowing.  
  
"Sora..." Cloud began, "you realize that Riku needs to be stopped, right?"  
  
"Of course." Sora answered.  
  
"At any cost?" nonexistant Kairi asked.  
  
"Even if he dies?" Cloud added.  
  
"No! There has to be another way!" Kairi slammed her hands on the table.  
  
"Kairi's right, we should put more research into this before doing anything rash." Aeris said.  
  
Kairi gave Aeris a thankful smile.  
  
"The nonexistant Riku said that 'it had to be this way' when he died. He knew that stoppping Riku would mean killing him..." Sora said.  
  
"Well, it would bring everything to a permanent end. I mean, if we save Riku, who's to say that he won't go back?" Leon asked.  
  
"Don't talk that way." Sora's tone sounded almost dangerous.  
  
"Anything's possible." Cid said.  
  
"If Riku was gone, the heartless would be gone forever." Leon said.  
  
"Stop it!" Sora exclaimed. He turned to Kairi, who was looking very upset.  
  
"We can't just take the easy way out." Yuffie pointed out.  
  
"Riku said himself that he couldn't be saved." Leon rebuttled.  
  
"That wasn't Riku talking, it was the darkness!" Sora yelled.  
  
Kairi whimpered a little and began to cry again.  
  
"No Kairi, don't cry." Sora said softly.  
  
"We will continue to reaserch it, but I warn you... we are almost done with every book." nonexistant Kairi said.  
  
"And you haven't found anything?" Cloud asked.  
  
"Nothing that we didn't already know." Aeris said.  
  
"Because there isn't anything else." Leon said.  
  
"Stop it!" Sora yelled again.  
  
"Wake up and smell the coffee, Sora! We can't help Riku!!!" Leon yelled.  
  
Everyone fell silent, except for Kairi, who was softly crying.  
  
"I tried to be optimistic, but sometimes you just have to suck it up and face reality! We tried, okay? But there's nothing to do now but stop Riku the only way we know how!" Leon closed his eyes and refused to look at Sora.  
  
"I'm going to help him, Leon." Sora said calmly. "And I'll do it with or without your help." Sora pulled Kairi in to him and held her tight.  
  
"...Okay, meeting over. Everyone get some sleep and we'll talk again tomorrow to decide the best course of action." Cloud said nervously.  
  
Everyone gratefully rose from their seats and left the kitchen.  
  
Sora pulled Kairi in the direction of the library. As soon as they walked through the big doors, Sora sat a shivering Kairi down and placed his jacket over her.  
  
"Show me the ones you haven't checked yet." Sora said.  
  
"It'll take forever.." Kairi mumbled softly.  
  
"Please just show me." he said calmly.  
  
Kairi lifted her head and pointed to a a row of bookshelves.  
  
"Those are the last ones." she said.  
  
"Thank you. Now go get some sleep, okay?" Sora extended his hand out towards her.  
  
"Mmk.." she said, accepting the hand.  
  
Sora saw her out, and then walked towards the first bookshelf. He pulled out the highest book, and began to read.  
  
***  
  
Many many books later, Sora slumped over a particularly large one, skimming the pages for anything useful.  
  
"I am proud of what you are doing." a voice said from behind.  
  
Sora turned around and locked eyes with his nonexistant form.  
  
"...Thank you." Sora said.  
  
The cloaked man smiled and picked up a book.  
  
"These books are unfortunately quite useless." the man said, scanning it with his yellow eyes. "but the hope they offer makes you keep going."  
  
Sora looked up, puzzled.  
  
"Tell me Sora, what are you going to do when you run out of books?" the man looked down and once again, their eyes met.  
  
"Whatever it takes." Sora answered.  
  
"I see." the nonexistant man replied. "Even if it means doing the unthinkable?"  
  
Sora didn't answer.  
  
"I understand. Get some sleep, friend. Everything might seem clearer when you are well rested." nonexistant Sora extended his hand towards the boy on the floor.  
  
Sora hesitated, but accpeted and rose from the ground. He made his way towards the exit.  
  
"Thank you." he said.  
  
"Of course." his cloaked duplicate answered, and walked upstairs to another exit.  
  
Sora made his way into his room, and got undressed. He walked up to the window and looked up at the stars. Sighing, he closed his curtains and climbed into bed.  
  
***  
  
The sand was warm beneath his feet. He decided to lie down and soak in the rays that the sun provided. The scent of the ocean flew towards him and made him content. Being back at Destiny Islands was something Sora had wanted to do for a while. His last visit had been so brief and scary that he had since longed to be back.   
  
So now he was. Everyone was happy and back to their normal lives. He had even moved back in with his parents, who had not aged a day. Kairi was back in her own house, and Riku lived with his parents as well. Tidus, Wakka, and Selphie still played on the beach, having duels and playing other childish games.   
  
-Thud-  
  
Sora sat up and looked around. The sky grew dark.  
  
-Thud-  
  
Paopu Island disappeared. The ocean turned a dark purple.  
  
-Thud-  
  
Pieces of the world fell and Sora was left on a small chunk of of ground. He got to his feet and looked around to see if anyone was there.   
  
"Hello?!?" he yelled, but he could hardly hear himself.  
  
He turned around and saw Riku sprawled on the ground in his black clothes.  
  
"Riku!!!" he tried to say again, but his voice wouldn't work. He tried to run towards Riku, but his legs moved in slow motion.  
  
Riku turned onto his stomach and got up onto all fours. He opened his eyes and arched his back. His lips parted to let out an agonizing scream, but there was no sound. His shirt ripped off and he closed his eyes in pain.  
  
Sora's eyes went wide as he saw two huge bumps on Riku's back, pushing out against his skin. The only sound was a sickening rip as two large black masses opened out of Riku's back. The blackness began to take form and feathers fell to the ground.   
  
Two black wings.  
  
Riku's blood soaked the floor and his newly aquired limbs, but he didn't seem to mind as he lifted himself off of the ground and into a standing position.  
  
"My wings are useless Sora." Riku said, but he didn't open his mouth. Sora could hear it inside it head.  
  
Riku's expression saddened as he tried in vain to wipe blood off of his chest.  
  
"I cannot escape, the blood makes it too heavy." Riku's mouth did not move again. "Like a soaked bird, I cannot fly, and I have no place to go."  
  
Sora opened his mouth to say something, but he still could not speak.  
  
"Will you end my misery, Sora? Will you kill me?" Riku looked up with a hopeful expression.  
  
Sora heard these words in his mind and shook his head no.   
  
'I can't kill you Riku, I can't do that...' he thought.  
  
"You can't? Why not?" Riku 'said'.  
  
'Because I want to save you.' Sora thought. He couldn't speak his mind, so he just shook his head again.  
  
"You can't save me, Sora." Riku was reading his mind... "It is over for me. I am suffering."  
  
Sora closed his eyes and shook his head no.  
  
"It's the only way Sora. Please kill me. I am suffering." Riku approached Sora slowly.  
  
'No! There has to be another way!' Sora yelled in his mind.  
  
Riku didn't answer. His solemn expression didn't change as he got closer and closer to Sora.  
  
Sora unwillingly summoned his keyblade and held it out. He tugged and tugged, but he could not move his extended arm. He couldn't move anything...  
  
Riku continued to walk forwards and stopped right in front of the edge of the keyblade. He smiled sadly and walked into it.  
  
'NO RIKU STOP!' Sora thought. He opened his mouth to say the words but once again, he was mute.  
  
Riku walked until the blade was deep inside his stomach. His eyes closed, and his wings fell off and landed on the ground. Riku reached a hand up to Sora, but before he could reach, he fell off the blade and onto the ground.  
  
Sora could finally move, and he threw the keyblade to the side and crouched by Riku. He scooped the older boy into his arms and shook him.  
  
'Wake up, wake up, wake up...' Sora chanted in his mind.  
  
Riku opened his eyes and looked at Sora. His cold lips mouthed something, but Sora could not hear it. Sora's eyes went wide as he held the lifeless body close.   
  
"No. No Riku, no." he could finally speak. "Riku come back... I.... I want to save you..."  
  
***  
  
Sora sat straight up in bed, beads of sweat running down his face.  
  
"Sora!!!!!!!!" he heard a shrill voice down the hall.  
  
"Kairi!" he said and scrambled out of bed.  
  
Sora ran towards Kairi's room, adn the door was opened. The sheets were tossed to the side, Aeris and Leon were already in the room, Leon was holding a piece of paper and Kairi's good luck charm. He noticed Sora, and held out the toy. Yuffie stumbled into the room, followed by Cloud and Cid. Sora took the piece little stuffed paopu and the note, but before he could read it, Leon told him...  
  
"Sora... he took Kairi."   
  
**********************  
  
ending the chapter there, weeee! dont hate me for the spelling mistakes and im gonna pray upload manager doesnt mess up my format. u_U  
  
i loved this chapter, i have to admit. if you guys want me to interpret the dream for you next chapter, just say so, and i will.... unless you wanna do it yourself. but, if requested, i can do a chapter just for the dream interpretation cuz its pretty important.  
  
only one chapter left, so look out for it.  
  
Review button: feeeeeeeeeeeeeeed meeeeeeeeee!  
  
oh, please be nice and feed my review button ^^ 


	8. You did it You saved me

another chapter so soon you ask? well, its the last official one. yes, i have dangled the ending in front of you for way to long... its time i drew this fiction to a close.... as soon as possible.  
  
go into this chapter with an open mind... and enjoy.  
  
(((/_ Sympathy for the Devil _\)))  
  
Sora tore down the hall, Kairi's good luck charm in hand.  
  
-I'll be waiting by the old keyhole. Come alone.-  
  
Riku's note had been short and precise, and Sora decided to waste no time in following it's instructions. The others had put up a small fight, but Sora had simply refused to listen to them and took off.   
  
"C'mon, c'mon..." Sora said aggitated, trying to make the elevators work.  
  
The familiar path led him outside where the cold air stung his eyes. The elevator traveled it's horizontal path at an agonizingly slow rate as Sora's pulse quickened in anticipation. He put his hand into his pocket and felt the communicator. Cid had given it to him just in case... but Sora knew he would not need it.   
  
Tonight, he knew he would bring Riku back.  
  
Fragments of his dream clouded his mind, but he bitterly forced them aside as the platform finally reached it's destination. He took off at a sprint once more, as soon came to the two large doors leading into the chamber.  
  
***  
  
Riku's eyes opened at the sound of the large doors creaking open. He rose from his kneeling position and looked over to Kairi's limp body.  
  
"Sorry to use you as bait. Don't wake up. You don't want to see it." he said softly.  
  
Sora raced up the the stairs and stopped dead in his tracks at the sight of Kairi. He took a moment to shoot a death glare at Riku before running over to where she lay.  
  
"Riku how could you..." Sora checked for a pulse.  
  
"She's not dead. Just sleeping. I don't want her to see us fight." Riku snickered. "Or to see you die at my hands."  
  
Sora ignored him and lifted Kairi into his arms. He managed to climb to the top ledge in the chamber and place her there, out of harm's way. He reached into his pocket and pulled out the paopu toy, placing it in her hand.  
  
"Are you going to come down or what?" Riku snapped.  
  
Sora gracefully landed back on level ground opposite Riku. He summoned his keyblade, and got in a position to fight.  
  
"You're not going to kill me. I'm going to save you." Sora stated briskly.  
  
Riku walked up to Sora so he was mere inches away. Sora allowed his hand that held the keyblade to lower to his side. Riku narrowed his eyes, and stared straight into Sora's blue orbs.  
  
"Foolish." the silver haired boy muttered and slapped Sora across the face.  
  
Sora took the blow and straighted up again, blood trickling from his mouth. He summoned all his strength and raised his weapon high into the air before bringing it down. Riku summoned his own keyblade instantly and blocked the attack. The two men went back and forth, neither of them gaining on eachother.  
  
"Why did you take the good luck charm?" Sora asked bitterly as they fought.  
  
"My nonexistant form took it from you in Traverse Town, he desperately needed a weapon. Didn't do him much good in the end, hey?" Riku snorted and swung at Sora's head.  
  
"Snap out of it already..." Sora said and blocked the attack.  
  
"I can't. This is who I am." Riku replied.  
  
"No it isn't!" Sora launched a series of attacks, one giving Riku a large cut along his left leg.  
  
Meanwhile, Kairi stirred and gripped the toy that resided in her hands. She sat up and rubbed her head, still sort of dazed. She heard a grunt and turned her head to see Sora blocking an attack from an injured Riku.  
  
"Riku, stop!" she yelled.  
  
Riku looked up and saw Kairi cringing in horror. Sora took the opportunity to knock Riku's blade out of his hands and pin him to the wall.  
  
Kairi got up and tried to find a way off the rafters.  
  
"Kairi, stay away!" Sora yelled.  
  
Riku said nothing and looked away.  
  
"Riku... tell me how I can help you!" Sora said, tightening his grip on Riku.  
  
"I told you already! You can't help me!" Riku snarled.  
  
"There has to be another way..."  
  
"There isn't! Why can't you understand that you cannot save me?!?!" Riku yelled, squirming under Sora's grip.  
  
"Because I don't WANT to understand!!!!" Sora cried out.  
  
Riku's expression softened slightly, and he looked at Sora with pain.  
  
"...Are you suffering?" Sora asked quietly.  
  
Riku again didn't answer, but kept eye contact with Sora.  
  
Kairi struggled not to fall off the ledge as she tried desperately to reach her two friends.  
  
"Kairi, stay away!" Sora yelled.  
  
Riku sensed a slight distraction and brought his knee up to try hit Sora's stomach. But this time, Sora was expecting it, and blocked it with his hands. This left Riku's top half free, and he backhanded Sora, sending him flying sideways.   
  
"Sora, no!" Kairi screamed as she finally reached the ground.  
  
Riku grabbed his keyblade and charged towards Sora. Sora straightened up and held his weapon in front of him and also began charging.  
  
Kairi screamed and ran towards the two boys.  
  
"No! Stop it!" she cried in vain as tears rolled down her cheeks.  
  
The sickening noise of blade meeting body echoed through Sora's ears as his keyblade pierced Riku's stomach. Riku looked up to the brunette with a look of complete horror, his weapon falling useless to the floor. He raised his arms to try grab at Sora, but fell backwards off the blade.  
  
Kairi was about halfway towards them and collapsed as she ran, sobbing into the floor.  
  
Sora threw his bloody weapon to the side and fell beside his dying friend.  
  
"Riku... I'm so sorry, please..." Sora took Riku into his arms and cradled him rocking back and forth.  
  
Riku opened his eyes and smiled, the life draining out of him.  
  
"Thank you Sora... can you forgive me?" Riku said quietly.  
  
"Of course I forgive you, it wasn't your fault." Sora smiled despite the tears flowing freely down his face.  
  
"You did the right thing... you had sympathy for me and killed me... now I can be free." Riku stared straight into Sora's eyes. "I can see everything now... it's so... beautiful..." his speech became spaced and more forced.  
  
"Riku... I don't want you to die..."  
  
"You saved the worlds..."  
  
"You did too..."  
  
At this, Riku smiled even more but coughed up blood. He closed his eyes and opened his mouth to talk. Sora immediately recognized these words as the ones Riku had tried to say in his dream...  
  
"You did it. You saved me..."  
  
Riku took one more breath, and then exhaled for the last time. Sora watched a black heart rise up from his companion's chest. It stopped and cast off it's dark shell, revealing a magnificent light. Kairi looked up and saw it too. The heart rose up and above into the heavens, dissappearing from sight.  
  
Sora looked down at the lifeless body in his hands, and reluctantly set it on the floor. He turned around to face Kairi, who still had tears rolling down her face.  
  
The two teens embraced, and Sora allowed Kairi to cry into his chest. He couldn't help but cry some more too.  
  
Riku had been a prisoner of darkness, a slave of evil. His basic rights had been stripped from him and he had suffered great loss. The hikari, the light itself mourned over the beautiful boy's death; for someone dying to be free is a tragedy that can never be explained, and a grief that can never be forgotten.  
  
(((/_ The End _\)))  
  
alright, please don't tear me limb from limb for killing riku... the ending was already in place from the begining, and hopefully you can understand that the only wasy for riku to be free was for him to die. he wanted to die, okay? please dont kill me _  
  
anyways, i loved writing this story, please review.  
  
if i get enough reviews, i'll write another chapter an an epilogue. it will be very short and offer some sort of closure, okay?   
  
dont be to distraught, and oh yea, dont kill me.  
  
(p.s.- i personally loved this sstory, and sincerely hoped you liked it too! much love ~ sokairu ^_^ ) 


	9. Epilogue

(((/_ Sympathy for the Devil _\)))  
  
~Epilogue~  
  
Wakka had come. So had Selphie and Tidus. The boat that carried Riku's ashes held no more than 10 people on it, including Kairi, Sora, and his parents. Riku's father had come as well, but he had never been close to his offspring, so he let Sora take care of the arrangements.  
  
It was a beautiful day on Destiny Islands, unfit for such a somber occasion. Sora slowly walked to the front of the boat holding the urn, and Kairi followed close behind him. As they reached the edge, the wind picked up and blew their black clothing tightly around their bodies. Sora opened the lid, and allowed the wind to carry his friend out to sea. Kairi held herself tightly, but did not cry.  
  
"He wanted it this way." she said softly as the last bits of ash left the boat.  
  
"Yea." Sora answered.  
  
Kairi opened her hands to free the white rose petals she was concealing. Some flew into the water while others were carried out of sight.  
  
***  
  
Later that day, as the guests were leaving Sora's house, Riku's father approached him.  
  
"Sora, may I have a word?" the tall man asked.  
  
"Sure." Sora answered, allowing himself to be pulled away from the rest of the mourners.  
  
"You know I didn't play a big role in Riku's life... I just wanted to ask..." Riku's father trailed off as if unsure whether or not to continue.  
  
"Sir?" Sora asked, looking into tired eyes that so closely resembled Riku's.  
  
"Well... his passing... was he in pain?" the man asked warily.  
  
"Yes, sir." the brunette answered. "But not at the end, not when it counted."  
  
"I see." the older gentleman replied. "He was okay with his... departure?"  
  
"Yes, sir."  
  
"...Alright then, Sora. Thank you for having me, but I must leave now." Riku's father gave Sora a pat on the back and walked towards the nearby exit.  
  
"Goodbye sir."  
  
"Oh and Sora?"  
  
"Sir?"  
  
"Thank you for saving him." the man put on his hat and left.  
  
Sora smiled and went into the kitchen to help clean up. Riku's father was the last person to leave, besides Kairi of course, who stayed behind.  
  
"Sora?" she asked after the cleaning was done and the two were relaxing on the sofa.  
  
"Yea?" the said boy answered as he undid his tie.  
  
"Do you think it was worth it?" Kairi looked at him with the saddest eyes in the world.  
  
She looked so fragile, and Sora pulled her in close so they could cry together just one more time.  
  
"Don't ask me that."  
  
***************  
  
Sora and Kairi did not learn until much later that people from all worlds had mourned along with them that day. News of Riku's great sacrifice had spread fast thanks to Aeris, who published the whole sad story as part of the history books.   
  
As destiny had called for so many years ago, the final princes of heart wed the keyblade master in an irreversable seal of the light's fate. One can only know what they named their first born baby boy.  
  
***********************************  
  
Author's Notes: A very short epilogue, I know. You people deserve much more, but what can I say, there really isn't much to write about anymore. I feel kinda empty now that this story is over, so I'm going to go work on my new one. Thanks for reading, you rock my socks.  
  
Until next time.  
  
-Sokairu 


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